


World Walker

by i_would_live_for_tony_stark21



Series: Arc Reactor Magic Ficlets [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Making Out, Male Slash, One Shot, POV Loki (Marvel), Post-Iron Man 1, Pre-Slash, Pre-Thor (2011), Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-12 13:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19133158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_would_live_for_tony_stark21/pseuds/i_would_live_for_tony_stark21
Summary: Loki discovers walking between worlds and accidentally ends up in Tony's tower. Set before the events of Thor and after the events of Iron Man 1. Prequel to It's Raining Men. Stand alone fic.





	1. Falling into Midgard

The last bits of daylight filtered through the windows onto the old Vanir spell book propped up on Loki’s desk. He was surrounded with pages of notes about the theory behind the spell he was going to attempt. It was advanced, ancient magic that had been lost to time except for the legends of beings that traversed light years in mere seconds by walking the limbs of Yggdrasil. If he got it right, he would be glorious, the first mage in the Nine Realms to world walk in centuries. If he got it wrong, well he didn’t want to think about that. He could end up lost in space for eternity. There weren’t many mages on Asgard and even fewer that would bother mounting an effort to find him if he found him stuck on one of Yggdrasil’s dead branches, far away from Heimdall’s gaze. 

Loki summoned his armor just in case. He briefly skimmed his notes one last time then began the spell as the sun set. He opened his eyes and he was suddenly in a vast dark space at the base of an gigantic gnarled tree. The branches kept growing at a monumental rate. Even more remarkable, different branches of the tree looked different. There were branches of a willow tree off in the distance and some branches that appeared charred to his right. Loki quickly began walking the trunk, using his magic to search for the energy of the giant neutron star of Nidavellir, the forge of the dwarves. He felt a pull and walked onto some younger branches of the tree. He closed his eyes and focused on reentering the nine realms and prepared himself for impact. 

His fall was much shorter and softer than he anticipated. What in the Norns? He opened his eyes to a well-worn couch made of an unfamiliar material and heard a squawk and the whine of an energy weapon in rapid succession. He looked up and saw a Midgardian with deep brown eyes and a strange, short beard that somehow suited his face. He was truly exquisite, Midgardian or not. The Midgardian’s hand was covered by a red gauntlet that was emanating a powerful, bright blue energy from both the palm of his gauntlet and his very core. Loki continued focusing on his chest in awe, this Midgardian’s heart was pure, raw energy. Loki gasped, recognizing the energy as the very same power he felt when he was walking the World Tree. He realized the Midgardian had been trying to talk to him for the past few minutes and Loki finally caught up with reality. 

“Hey, Fifty Shades of Grey, my eyes are up here. I’m going to ask you again, how did you enter my tower undetected?”

Loki put his hands up placatingly. “I apologize for entering your tower uninvited. I was trying a new spell to walk worlds and while I was successful at that I appear to have picked the wrong world.”

The Midgardian was silent for a very long time but ultimately lowered his gauntlet. Despite this, Loki didn’t feel any less safe, while he could easily crush the Midgardian, he felt an unseen presence. Midgard had truly advanced from mud huts and hunting. 

“A spell? Like magic? Is this a joke, did Pepper put you up to this? Is David Blaine going to pop out from somewhere else in my lab?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know your references. I am from Asgard. But yes, my magic is real.” And with that Loki teleported from the couch to standing right behind the Midgardian. 

“Woah! JARVIS, did you get that? You’re magic and an alien?”

An unseen voice began speaking and Loki jumped. “I have some abnormal energy readings but other than that our visitor appears to be truthful about his magic.”

Loki raised his eyebrows in question. The Midgardian nearly clapped his hands together, and realizing the gauntlet was still on, aborted the motion. Nonetheless, he cheerfully continued, “Introduction time. I’m Tony Stark of Earth. Genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist. And the voice is JARVIS, my artificial intelligence. And you are?”

Loki bowed and responded, “I am Loki, prince of Asgard, god of mischief, skilled mage, and now world walker. An artificial intelligence? You’ve created a living being and an immeasurable power source you can feel from the Yggdrasil” he said gesturing at the power in Tony’s chest. “I see the genius title is well earned, especially for a Midgardian.”

Tony preened at the praise. They spent hours asking each other questions about science and magic respectively. He explained world walking to Tony and Tony had leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling, as if comprehending how big of an accomplishment what Loki had done was. Tony had been a bit touchy about questions about the arc reactor, the receptacle for the unbridled energy within his heart, but had slowly opened up about it when Loki had compared it to magic and explained how it had caused him to fall into Midgard into Tony’s lab. Tony even took him to the roof and showed him the view of New York City. The Midgardians had truly done well for themselves with their so-called sky scrapers and mechanical vehicles allowing to traverse great distances. Soon it was daylight on Midgard and Loki bid Tony goodbye, promising to visit again and bring him some uru to incorporate into his armor. Not willing to risk falling into another unintended realm, Loki called for Heimdall at the top of Stark Tower.


	2. Falling in Love

Heimdall had been surprised to see him to say the least. Loki rushed past him, heading back to the palace. He was eager to tell his mother about his attempt at world walking and the intriguing mortal he had met. 

He ran into Sif and the Warriors Three at the entrance to the palace. Fandral blocked his way and asked, “You didn’t spar with us. Where are you off to in such a hurry? More mischief I suppose.”

Loki scoffed and replied, “No, I’ve just become Asgard’s newest World Walker.”

Sif smiled unkindly, “Surely, you jest. World walking was only for the most powerful beings in legends. If you were able to world walk you’d simply use it to avoid Heimdall’s gaze and plot more pranks.”

The Warriors Three roared in laughter at that as Loki pushed past them and Loki went to his rooms fuming instead. If they expected pranks, he would be more than happy to provide. 

The next morning a loud scream pierced the hallways of the palace, causing all the birds to take flight. The screaming continued and even Huginn and Muninn took flight. Loki cast a spell to make himself invisible and admire his handiwork up close. Sif was grasping at her hair and looking in the mirror. Thor and the Idiots Three had finally made it to the source of the commotion, weapons in arms and ready to fight. They stopped at the sight of her hair in shock. Sif’s hair had previously been pale gold but now it was pure black. 

A few of the servants and maids had gathered at the entrance of Sif’s chambers, gasping and murmuring to themselves. Loki took on the guise of a stable boy and shouted, “She’s been cursed!”. The murmurs increased and Sif and her friends finally realized they had company. 

Sif continued wailing as Thor shouted, “LOKI!” and pushed through the crowd heading in the direction of Loki’s chambers. Loki slipped away outside of the palace and then decided to world walk to hide from Heimdall and escape Thor’s wrath. While the black might fade slightly, he had made the color change spell permanent. He once again traversed the world tree and wanting to share his exploits with someone, he took the path to Midgard, and popped back into Tony’s tower. 

While he had been laying out his plan, he couldn’t stop thinking about the Midgardian. Tony was clever and smart and kind. Despite being confused by magic and at first, vehemently opposed to its existence, he changed his views after seeing Loki perform spells. Tony enjoyed listening to Loki and asked insightful questions about his magic and the quests Loki regaled. He was the opposite of Sif and the Warriors Three, his supposed childhood friends. He had only known Tony for a day but he felt much more comfortable with him than he had ever felt in the presence of Thor’s merry band of idiots. 

This time he fell directly onto the coffee table in front of the couch. “Loki! You’re back”, Tony exclaimed, while running over to where he fell. He helped Loki up and Loki began shaking with laughter at the prank he successfully pulled. 

“Care to share with the class?” And so Loki did and by the end of the story, both had dissolved into peals of laughter. 

“Oh man, remind me to never piss you off. So seems like you’re stuck hiding on Earth for a while. You’re more than welcome to crash here, we have plenty of rooms. Just as long as you let me pick your brain about magic.” Tony smiled and Loki found himself smiling and agreeing. It would not be a burden to talk about magic with someone who was genuinely interested in it and smart enough to understand it. And he could afford to disappear from Asgard for a few days.

Loki looked at Tony fondly as Tony clapped his hands together and said, “Great! Also, after you left yesterday JARVIS and I worked together to create some more specific scans to detect your magic. Maybe we could make a day out of testing them out?”

“Of course. I was also thinking about your suit of armor. I could add some protection spells to it by carving runes onto it if you’d like. You mortals are so fragile, and I’d hate to see anything happen to a mortal with such great intellect”.

Tony beamed at that. He asked several questions about the mechanism of action of the runes. He expressed his reluctance towards anybody else touching or modifying his suit. Loki acquiesced but told him the offer was still there and Tony smiled at that. He reached into one of his pocket dimensions and pulled out some of the uru he had gathered and handed it over to him. Tony immediately began running analysis on it and Loki found himself content to watch the holographic displays scroll by and listen to Tony and his creation bicker good naturedly. Tony asked him about Asgard and Loki found himself sharing everything. He talked about his childhood, Thor, Odin, and Frigga. He talked about the warrior culture and how the general populace favored Thor the golden son for his brawn even though it was Loki who usually saved them all when things went to Hel. Loki realized he had never really had anyone other than his mother that he could speak so openly with about Asgard’s flaws and the less glamorous life led by Asgard’s youngest prince. 

Tony was sympathetic and kind and always knew what to say. They were practically strangers but Tony was more supportive than other Asgardians he had known his entire life. Tony appeared to feel the same way. He shared a truly harrowing story of how he came to have the arc reactor in his chest and how he had grown up in the spotlight. Loki now completely understood why he didn’t want anyone modifying his armor. He had been betrayed by so many people in his life. The only comfort Loki had was that everyone involved in hurting Tony was already dead. Tony’s every move was watched and dissected by Midgard’s populace, even more so than Loki was judged by Asgard’s populace. 

As they wrapped up the magical scans, Tony exclaimed, “You’ve never had Earth’s food! JARVIS, let’s order some pizza. Let’s get some of everything. Trust me you’re going to love pizza, Lokes.”

Loki felt a swell of warmth in his chest at the nickname and smiled at the exuberant mortal. Tony continued chattering about the food and Loki stepped closer to him and kissed him. The kiss was light and slow and Loki pulled back, searching Tony’s eyes for his reaction. Tony’s eyes were wide with surprise but then Tony stepped into Loki’s space, cradled his head, and kissed him back enthusiastically. Loki traced Tony’s beard and goatee first with his hands then with light, peppered kisses. Tony ran his fingers through Loki’s hair. They stumbled over to the couch where they first met and Loki fell backwards onto it with Tony straddling him on top. They continued making out until JARVIS amusedly informed them that the food was there. 

Tony whined at the interruption and threatened to send JARVIS to a community college. He reluctantly got off the couch and went to get the food after caressing Loki’s hand. 

They continued collaborating in the lab and slowly exploring each others’ bodies. Loki was the happiest he had ever been. He felt light and hopeful for the first time in centuries. He finally had something to look forward to and he treasured the soft moments they shared. The more he learned about Tony, the deeper his attraction ran. Tony saw the real him and was genuinely interested in listening to him. They made a devastatingly efficient team in the lab and created magically infused tech to help during Tony’s hero business. He knew he would eventually have to go back to Asgard and face the music but for this one week he could blissfully forget about it. He was even contemplating living on Midgard for a while to spend more time with Tony. He could claim to be Midgard’s protector or something equally noble and foolish. And Tony was equivalent to Midgardian royalty and hopefully, his mother would approve. And to think all of this wouldn’t have been possible, if Loki hadn’t accidentally world walked towards Tony’s heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kind of thinking about making a sequel from Tony's POV. This is my first time writing any type of romance, please let me know if you have any constructive feedback.


End file.
